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  1. NatJ

    Hens refusing to lay in private boxes that are adjacent, insisting on laying under growths of ivy?

    You are measuring in feet, right? If not, then everything I am about to say will be badly wrong. A common suggestion is 4 square feet per chicken in the coop, and 10 square feet per chicken in the run. That means 9 chickens would need at least 36 square feet of coop and at least 90 square feet...
  2. NatJ

    Different symptoms in all birds that are sick

    You can still hatch chicks, if you accept that some or all of them will have problems. If you breed from ones that do not show symptoms, you may be able to breed chickens that are relatively resistant to the strain of Mareks that you have. Of course that takes years, but it offers a little hope...
  3. NatJ

    Would anyone care to guess genetics with me on my backyard flock?

    I know that some genes make gold/red colors darker (Mahogany) and that some make gold/red colors lighter (Cream), but I'm pretty sure there are some other genes that affect the exact shade of color without having a big enough effect to get individually studied and named. And just for good...
  4. NatJ

    Would anyone care to guess genetics with me on my backyard flock?

    I'm not entirely sure what to call it either. She's obviously got the silver gene, and she does not have the "salmon" color we usually see in the breast of wild-type hens (even the silver ones: look at pictures of Silver Duckwing hens if you want examples.) I don't know what e-locus gene she...
  5. NatJ

    Would anyone care to guess genetics with me on my backyard flock?

    Yes, it is quite likely that he has the Mahogany gene. I do not know how dark "gold" can be without that gene, and how dark with it. So for example I'm not sure whether Ranch & Bacon's brothers also have the Mahogany gene (maybe?), or the father of Budy (another maybe?)
  6. NatJ

    Would anyone care to guess genetics with me on my backyard flock?

    All sorts of confusing possibilities! In case I forgot to say it, even if Mayo has one Extended Black gene, he must also have one other gene that is not Extended Black. That is how he can sire so many chicks that are not black, or black with white barring, or black with white mottling. I'm...
  7. NatJ

    What breed AND gender is this?

    It is easy to be paranoid, especially after an experience like that! And sometimes a late-maturing male (or more than one) will look like a pullet for quite a while, then one day he makes himself known. Obvious males are easy, but it sometimes takes me a long time to be really confident that a...
  8. NatJ

    When should let them run around with there mom

    If the chicks are getting out of the cage, but the hen is still in, I would consider that more dangerous than just letting them all out. A hen out of the cage can protect her chicks from some things. A hen in the cage cannot protect a chick from anything, if the chick is outside the cage.
  9. NatJ

    Fall/winter feed

    Yes, you can use that feed for their entire life. Just continue to provide the oyster shell separately so they layers can get the extra calcium they need.
  10. NatJ

    What breed AND gender is this?

    Nice to see how they are doing! So far, they still look like "probably pullets" to me. I would expect a male to be pretty obvious by this age, but I can't be positive because some males do develop slowly and because you do not know their age for sure. The black in the tail feathers could happen...
  11. NatJ

    Would anyone care to guess genetics with me on my backyard flock?

    Definitely frustrating to run into "no image" on the calculator! I've found it helpful when I'm trying to understand some things, but it definitely has its limits. For that particular cockerel, I think it's just barring, not pattern gene. The barring gene does not always make lines straight...
  12. NatJ

    how much room do I need in my coop for my chickens?

    If you shut them in at night, they need enough space to move around when they wake up in the morning, before you let them out. That is even more true if you sometimes lock them in during the daytime (examples would include bad weather, or if the outdoor run needs repairs, or many other possible...
  13. NatJ

    Nearly 7 month old Brahma still not laying eggs?

    It usually works better to start a new thread with your question, instead of asking in a thread that already exists. There are many reasons that pullets or hens might stop laying, and it can be different for one flock than another. They might still be laying but you are not getting the eggs...
  14. NatJ

    Would anyone care to guess genetics with me on my backyard flock?

    ...does not show mottling, but it doesn't really have a good name of its own. Going through the photos you posted, and looking at specific genes: **Mottling** Sweet Pea shows mottling, so she has two mottling genes. That means she must give one to each chick she produces. Serama Rooster 1...
  15. NatJ

    Advice on which coop please

    The moisture is only needed if you do want it to compost. You can also use litter that is deep but stays dry, and it only composts after you move it somewhere else and let it get wet. (I know that some people use a different term depending on whether it is moist/composting or dry/not...
  16. NatJ

    Letting new mama hen and her baby chicks sleep in coop wity 4 other chickens at night.

    If you want to train the older chickens to sleep in the coop, you certainly can. But you do not need to worry about them being too cold at those temperatures. Chickens can sleep comfortably in temperatures below freezing (below 32 degrees Fahrenheit), as long as they are dry and out of the...
  17. NatJ

    Chocolate mottled x paint silkies

    If so, we should take it to a private message, or start a different thread, to avoid confusing this thread. A satin is just like a normal silkie, except that it does not have the gene for silkie feathering, right? The gene for silkie feathering is recessive, so a chicken that shows silkie...
  18. NatJ

    Roofed roosting bar at night and that's it...anyone with experience?

    That is an interesting point. A mustelid-proof coop would be safest of all, but if you cannot keep the predator out, then yes you might have more live chickens the next morning if the chickens are sleeping in several different places, and if they have some possibility of escape, instead of...
  19. NatJ

    Chocolate mottled x paint silkies

    I do not know for sure whether a chicken can express both paint and mottling at the same time. I have tried playing with the chicken calculator https://kippenjungle.nl/chickencalculator.html That makes it appear that paint expresses differently when the chicken has two mottling genes than when...
  20. NatJ

    Double Yolks

    I'm no good at recognizing fertile eggs in pictures like that, or even when I crack them in my own kitchen. Apparently some people can tell by looking, but I am not one of them. (Yes, I have tested it: crack a few eggs from a hen and see if they look fertile, then incubate the next eggs from...
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